Major Infrastructure Development Assessment
What's new?
The North West Transmission Upgrades Project was declared a major infrastructure project by an Order under the Major Infrastructure Development Approvals Act 1999 in 2020.
TasNetworks has lodged plans of the proposed corridor for the project and the Minister has given notice to land owners, affected councils and the Tasmanian Planning Commission.
More information: North West Transmission Upgrades Project
The Major Infrastructure Development Approvals Act (MIDAA) was passed in 1999.
MIDAA was made to give a single assessment process approval of gas pipelines from Burnie to Hobart via Georgetown. At the time, there were many more planning schemes than there are now, each with different standards and requirements. While the state has made substantial progress towards fewer and more uniform schemes since 1999, the MIDA Act process still has benefits. It means that there is only a single decision maker for each development application and possibly even a single development application, instead of one development application for every council that the project crosses.
MIDAA has been used twice. First for the gas pipelines noted above, and secondly for a transmission line connecting Waddamana Power Station to Lindisfarne, approximately fifteen years ago.
What does it apply to?
MIDAA applies to infrastructure that is linear, such as roads, rail, pipelines, powerlines or telecommunications links.
Assessment process
Large infrastructure projects take a long time to plan, develop and construct. Before MIDAA is used, infrastructure companies have been doing long range planning based on a range of factors including:
- Population growth
- Demand or consumption data
- Changes in technology
- Changes in policy
Typically, options are developed and reviewed on environmental, social and economic grounds to get to a preferred option. This process alone can take years, depending on the size of the project.
Once a preferred option has been developed, the MIDAA process can commence. The project is assessed as a discretionary planning application, meaning that it can be either approved, approved with conditions or refused.
Steps in the process
| Step | Description | Clause of the Act |
|---|---|---|
| Preparation | The proponent has prepared all the information about the project. | |
| Before making a declaration |
The Minister has advised affected councils. Councils have responded within 28 days to respond, saying if they are in support of it or not, and if not, giving their reasons. Councils also advise their preference for the assessment to be done by a combined planning authority or the Tasmanian Planning Commission (the Commission). The Minister is satisfied that: the project meets the criteria under the MIDAA, the project is in the public interest, and it furthers the objectives of Schedule One of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 (LUPAA). | |
| Making a declaration |
Minister recommends to Governor that an order is made. If the Governor supports the recommendation, an order is made, published in the Gazette and brought to Parliament within the first ten sitting days from the Gazette date. | 7 |
| Approval of order |
Parliament has fifteen sitting days to consider the Order, which can only be refused within those sitting days. Both houses must approve an order before it can take effect. Approval is given by a motion in Parliament, or by simply allowing the 15 sitting days to pass without determining to refuse the order. | 7 |
| Notification | The Minister must advise the Commission, affected planning authorities, and affected state agencies, and publicly advertise the order in relevant newspapers. | 7 |
| Establishment of combined planning authority | If the application is not being assessed by the Commission, the Minister can create a combined planning authority which functions as if it is a planning authority under LUPAA. | 16, 17 |
| Draft criteria for assessment | The criteria that an application will be assessed against are determined and placed on public exhibition for 14 days. | 12 |
| Finalised criteria | The Commission finalises criteria, after having considered representations. | 12 |
| A notified corridor | The corridor must be mapped with enough accuracy to allow any landowner to clearly see if their land is included. | 14 |
| The Minister must notify the Commission, the affected councils and all affected land owners of the creation of a corridor. The corridor will be registered on each property title. | 14 | |
| Registration of corridor | The corridor will be registered on each property title. | 15 |
| Assessment | The combined planning authority, or the Commission, assesses the application in accordance with the criteria | 57a LUPAA |
| Decision | The planning authority makes a decision. | |
| Appeal | Aggrieved persons or the proponent can appeal the decision | TASCAT |
What an order contains
The order tells you:
- the name of the proponent,
- the nature and approximate location of each use or development that makes up the project,
- specifies who will assess the application, and if specific guidelines are needed,
- information about financial bonds, and
- the fees required from the proponent to pay for the assessment.
Amendments to orders
Orders can be amended for two reasons.
For a minor change that does not change the overall intent of the Order, the Governor can make an amended Order without Parliament approval.
More substantial changes to an Order, such as a new route, must be approved by Parliament.
Effect of a declaration
The development application for the project is treated as a discretionary development application under section 57 of LUPAA, which means it can be:
- approved,
- approved with conditions, or
- refused.
Because it is a discretionary application, decisions can be appealed through the normal TASCAT process.
An order can also:
- state that section 52(1) of the LUPAA can be dispensed with when the development application is lodged,
- issue guidelines for the proponent,
- obtain a bond from the proponent,
- set fees for assessment, and
- facilitate sale of public land to the proponent for the project.
Who assesses the application?
There are two ways an application can be assessed, either by a combined planning authority or by the Commission. The Commission can only be used if one of the local councils has expressed its preference for that.
An order will give details of the combined planning authority that will decide the outcome of the development application. This is only if it is not being decided by the Commission.
The combined planning authority or the Commission (if doing the assessment) prepare draft assessment criteria. The Commission places them on public exhibition for 14 days, considers any submissions and then determines the final assessment criteria.
Non approval of the project
If the infrastructure project is not approved, the Minister can revoke the order. Notice of revocation is also placed on the title.
Notified corridors and easements
Under the MIDAA process, the terms ‘notified corridor’ and ‘easement’ are used regularly.
A notified corridor is the largest amount of land that may become the infrastructure route. The width is determined by a range of factors including:
- topography,
- environmental or cultural constraints,
- operational requirements,
- construction requirements, and
- possible future expansion.
The purpose of the corridor is to prevent incompatible development during the planning, assessment stages and development stages. If the project is approved, the width of the corridor is usually reduced to match the size of the final easement that is required for the project.
A notified corridor takes effect when the Minister sends notices to all affected landowners within the corridor.
Amendments to corridors
The same process to make a corridor must be followed to amend a corridor.
Land use within a notified corridor or easement
MIDAA and the Tasmanian Planning Scheme recognise that major infrastructure is both important to the entire community, and a potential source of land use conflict. Both try to prevent future conflict by limiting incompatible development within the notified corridor or easement.
The Minister for Planning must give their written consent to any new development within the notifiable corridor. Planning Authorities are required to have this consent before approving any development within the notified corridor.
In giving the consent the Minister will consider whether the proposed development would restrict the operation of the MIDAA project, hamper its implementation or add additional costs to the MIDAA project.
Compensation
Because the corridor or easement restricts development, landowners may be entitled to compensation. This is included in section 14 of MIDAA.
MIDAA gives landowners twelve months to apply for compensation. You can only get compensation once, either when the corridor is notified, or the easement is created.
Some infrastructure providers also have acquisition powers under the Land Acquisition Act 1993. In these circumstances, landowners can only claim compensation once. For those circumstances, MIDAA is switched off by section 14(17).
More information
- Information Sheet - Major Infrastructure Development Approvals Act
- Tasmanian Planning Commission website
Tasmanian infrastructure providers have a range of information on their websites about land use and easements.
- TasNetworks - Electricity easements
- TasWater website - Guidelines for building near water and sewer pipelines